Latest news with #Mynt
Forbes
22-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Fintech Unicorn GCash May Delay Philippines' Biggest IPO If US-China Trade War Escalates
A customer pays with GCash in Manila, the Philippines, Nov. 11, 2017. Mynt—operator of the Philippines' most popular e-wallet GCash and backed by the billionaire Zobel de Ayala family—may defer its IPO should the intensifying trade war between the U.S. and China escalate and continue to roil markets. The GCash operator is owned 36% by Globe Telecom, a joint venture between Singapore Telecom and Ayala Corp, which is owned by billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family. Mynt's other investors include the Philippine conglomerate's AC Ventures, China's Ant Financial and Japan's MUFG Bank. Globe Telecom and Mynt are working to make the fintech 'push-button ready' to hold an IPO once market conditions improve, Carl Cruz, the newly appointed CEO of Philippine mobile carrier. 'All the requirements are being prepared so that when the right time comes the IPO is going to happen,' Cruz told Forbes Asia on the sidelines of his maiden media briefing as Globe Telecom CEO. 'It has to be the best possible condition for the IPO to happen. If market conditions deteriorate then we will have to take a position.' Mynt's IPO, which is anticipated by some analysts to raise between $1 billion and $1.5 billion later this year, will be the biggest maiden share sale in the Philippines since the 2021 listing of Monde Nissin, which raised $1 billion. GCash has been contributing positively to Global Telecom with the phone company's share of Mynt's earnings in 2024 reaching 3.8 billion pesos, up from 2.4 billion pesos in 2023 and 808.3 million pesos in 2022. Globe Telecom reported 21.5 billion pesos in core net income last year. Mynt in August received $800 million from AC Ventures and MUFG Bank, valuing the fintech company at $5 billion, making it the most valuable Philippine unicorn. GCash is used by eight out of 10 Filipinos, according to Globe. The platform has over six million merchants with services ranging from payments, lending, insurance and investments. Ayala Corp. is the country's oldest conglomerate that was started by the grandfather of Jaime Zobel de Ayala, the family patriarch, in 1834 as a distillery. Today, the Manila-listed company has expanded into banking, energy, utilities and real estate. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, the family is among the richest in the Philippines.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Philippines' GCash to Seek At Least $8 Billion IPO Valuation
(Bloomberg) -- Top Philippine mobile wallet GCash could aim for at least $8 billion in valuation when it goes public as soon as this year, its chairman said, as it urges regulators to ease rules to make way for its big listing. ICE Eyes Massive California Tent Facility Amid Space Constraints How Britain's Most Bike-Friendly New Town Got Built Washington, DC, Region Braces for 'Devastating' Cuts from Congress The Dark Prophet of Car-Clogged Cities Saving the Signature Sound of Washington, DC '$8 billion should be a minimum in my view,' Globe Telecom Inc. President and CEO Ernest Cu said in an interview on Monday. Cu is also chairman of Globe unit Mynt, the parent of GCash. Cu said bulk of the initial public offering will likely be secondary shares that would allow the exit of private equity investors which own around 10%-12% of the fintech, including Warburg Pincus and Bow Wave Capital Management. At a valuation of '$8 billion and above' these investors will likely sell their shares, he added. A potential IPO may take place by the end of 2025, and Cu said there's no hurry to do it since GCash just did another funding round last year that boosted its valuation to $5 billion. 'It's better to be done right than rushed,' he said. The timing will partly hinge on the Philippine Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission agreeing to lower the minimum public float to 10%-15% from the current 20%, the executive said. If the IPO rules aren't tweaked 'to accommodate larger IPOs then you'll remain a small IPO exchange,' Cu added. The planned share sale comes as the local stock market is reeling from low liquidity and weak valuations, with only three IPOs last year - the same number in 2023 — half of the PSE's goal. The market could see some big listings this year, with utility firm Maynilad Water Services Inc. filing for an IPO that could raise up to 49.1 billion pesos ($857 million), the nation's biggest so far. GCash could top that. At $8 billion valuation, the company must sell $800 million to $1.2 billion worth of shares to achieve a 10% to 15% public float. 'We were very open about requesting our exemptions from the 20% float requirement,' Cu said. But he acknowledged the plan also has a downside since a smaller public float may scuttle its hopes to be included in a regional index like the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. 'Without that, the foreign index funds may not participate in the stock, and that could affect valuation, that could affect liquidity. So all these play into our timeline,' the Globe Telecom CEO said. Bloomberg News earlier reported that the IPO could potentially raise $1 billion to $1.5 billion, citing people familiar with the matter. The company was also said to have picked banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG to work on the share sale that could take place this year. The Mynt chairman said he's had discussions with 'long-only' US, European and Japanese funds interested to become cornerstone investors for the IPO, Cu said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Annabelle Droulers and Rebecca Choong Wilkins earlier on Monday. Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. took an 8% stake in GCash during the last funding round in August. Apart from Globe, Jack Ma-backed Ant Group, and conglomerate Ayala Corp. are its key shareholders. Helping build GCash, which has around 94 million registered users, to become the Philippines' most popular mobile wallet would be one of the legacies of Cu, who's set to step down in April as Globe's chief executive, a position he has held since 2009. He will be replaced by former Airtel Nigeria CEO Carl Raymond Cruz, but Cu will remain chairman of Mynt. Cu also pushed Globe to become the nation's leading mobile service provider and the largest telco by market capitalization. Retiring from leading Globe would allow him to travel more and play golf, he said. 'Been there, done that. I don't like watching the same movie twice.' --With assistance from Joanne Wong. (Updates with valuation, other details throughout.) Nvidia Looks Past DeepSeek and Tariffs for AI's Next Chapter How America Got Hooked on H Mart How Trump's 'No Tax on Tips' Could Backfire for the Working Class The Real Reason Trump Is Pushing 'Buy American' College Presidents on Trump, Tuition and Universities Under Pressure ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
